Hospital religious-spiritual assistance: the “whys” and the “hows”

Aplicações práticas

Abstract

The relationship between religiosity-spirituality and physical and mental health assumes greater importance for hospital inpatients. Thus, inpatient services should invest in actions that can support religious-spiritual resources and seek ways to address these special needs. Religious-spiritual hospital care (assistência religiosa-espiritual hospitalar - AREH) refers to the professional attention to the subjective spiritual and religious worlds of patients, worlds composed of perceptions, assumptions, feelings and beliefs about the relationship of the sacred with his/her illness, hospitalization and recovery or possible death. There are at least five reasons for an institution to invest in an AREH program: 1. Religious-spiritual well-being is yet higher priority during hospitalization; 2. Religious-spiritual appreciation is a standard for hospital accreditation; 3. It can undo religious-spiritual misunderstandings that would affect treatment; 4. Patients want a religious-spiritual perspective from the institution; and 5. Costs could be reduced with religious-spiritual support. The forms of offering AREH can be as individual or collective way; can be focused on a specific religious denomination or be multi-faith. Support at a basic level may be the responsibility of health professionals and, as the level of complexity increases, may be provided by a trained volunteer, community religious minister, or hospital chaplain. The target audience of the AREH includes not only the inpatient, but also their relatives, caregivers and health professionals. Despite the existence of laws that guarantee the inpatients access to religious support, Brazil does not have regulations for the professionalization of this activity. This article explores all the above concepts and describes what is expected from an AREH program.